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RPing Etiquette
Overview: This page is dedicated to helping guide new role players, as well as those who are new to using skill systems, in creating and then playing their characters. This page will discuss various pitfalls and very big no-no's in the world of RP. This is not Lothessia centered, these tips and out right rules in most RP sites can be used in any RP experience. What this page will not do is tell you what character to create, how that character responds and what that character will do. Character Concept: Okay the character concept people often get confused with character history. The concept is not the history of the character but is the end product of that history. This is where you give your character their strengths, weakness, flaws and warts. Some key questions to ask yourself at this stage is : What do I want in my character's personality? What prejudices will my character have? What traits do I want them to have, what likes, and dislikes? Cliched Concepts: There are certain concepts that are cliched, which is not to say they are bad to have but they are so cliche that it is kind of like having that same background character in every movie that does nothing but walk back and forth. It gets very boring and very lifeless. Avoid the cliches. I won't detail the cliche character traits because I don't want people to think that if they have just one of the traits then their character is cliche. Suffice to say if you have modeled your character after any famous action movie characters, famous romance movie characters, or famous dramatic movie characters then your character is probably a cliche. Figuring out the 'why': The final part to character concept is to answer the question why. Why is my character a smart mouthed sassy woman? What has made her that way? Why does my character hate Thaldarin? Why does my character love to dance in the rain? Answering the question as to why your character would have certain traits and concepts will allow you to build a good character history. Character History: This won't be a long section because character history is your history to dictate. This is a matter of personal preference. Some people like to detail their character history others just want a bare sketch. Some want to have huge dramatic events in their history, others want a mundane life in their history so that they can really have a large hand in how their character behaves. Just remember that a history will effect concepts. This is also an easy area to get into cliche mode. "Oh noes my father died when I was a baby and my mother struggled to put food on our table. I loved my mother to death but then bandits came and raped and killed her in front of me" Trust me this has been done a thousand and forty times. Nothing new there. However I am not saying that that history is wrong to do just that painting yourself into the corner of a vigilante or bitter before your character even starts RPing might make your RP limited. God Modding: God Modding is when you not only control your characters actions but you also control other character's actions. This also includes controlling characters possessions, states of being, and state of mind. This is the height of etiquette no-no's and in most cases -as it is on Lothessia- it is against the rules. We all sometimes do a mild bit of god modding. "Sherona puts her hand on Wayne's arm" This is a mild form of God modding because it assumes Wayne wouldn't move his arm. However this is what is considered minor and if Wayne does move his arm it does not dictate that the rest of the post is off. A good rule of thumb is only write your characters. I will detail different forms of God Modding as examples: Actions: This is by far the most obvious, and generally the most often form of God modding. Forcing other people to act in your post. Mild ones are mostly over looked but major ones will get you a poke from either the grader after the fact or a mod during. Examples of this is if the writer of Sherona writes " Sherona moves towards Wayne, and when Wayne backs up she just continues to move until Wayne is backed into a corner so that she could finally slap his face." Okay here Sherona has forced the other character to back up into a corner into his post or risk ruining the continuity of the story. For if Wayne did not write that he did indeed back into a corner then all of Sherona's post makes no sense. Possessions: God Modding other people's possessions is a no no but people tend to feel that they can break this without problem. Example of this would be if someone had something hidden in their pocket. Well you know this OOCly because you read their post but ICly your character doesn't know this. However you decide to write that x falls out of that person's pocket. That is God Modding. Or if they were not described as having weapons but you decide to give them weapons in your post, or take away weapons in your post. This is all god modding. Do not, I repeat, Do not control anything about the other person. Reactions and state of being: This is yet another example of a frequently used God Mod. Do not in your reply add thoughts, feelings, or physical well being of another character unless you are repeating what they themselves wrote. Do not put another person "on the brink of death" unless the other person has posted something that was obvious that they were on the brink of dying. Do not post responses for others, such as surprise, anger, or sadness. Overplaying Skills This is easy to do for even seasoned RPer's. Those new to skilled rp find it hard to cope within the skill restrictions how ever those sites who do use a skill-based character growth wish for a sense of realism. We do not want, and will not allow new characters to be created god-like. The skill system keeps that from happening by forcing everyone to start at very basic levels. So if your a novice in a weapon do not think of any movie action hero when you are posting use. You won't be able to do that super cool cartwheel and throw a dagger to hit perfect. I won't let you do that unless you are both legendary in dagger and Acrobatics. We don't care if you wrote into your history that you have killed thousands of men.. if your a novice in weapon your going to play a novice in a weapon. Or any other skill.